1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to a refrigerating system having a function capable of fermenting food in addition to the conventional functions thereof, and particularly to a refrigerating system for optimally fermenting food, for example Kimchi, which consists of pickled vegetables.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Ordinarily, a refrigerator has a freezing compartment available for quick freezing or storing food at a relatively lower temperature and a refrigerating compartment available for storing food at the relatively higher temperature for a long time.
A refrigerant tube forming a closed cycle is mounted on the rear of the interior wall of the freezing and refrigerating compartments and a compressor, a condenser, an evaporator and a capillary tube are integrated in the closed cycle to perform the refrigerating cycle.
The operation of the refrigerating system is usually controlled by a system controller, for example, a microprocessor.
A movable damper is located in the partition wall which separates the interior space of the refrigerator into the freezing and refrigerating compartments, in order to properly distribute cool air produced by the refrigerating system to the freezing and refrigerating compartments.
In the conventional refrigerating system described above, the compressor converts the refrigerant which has a low temperature and low pressure into a gas with a high temperature and a high pressure, and then the refrigerant is moved to the condenser. The refrigerant is condensed by the condenser into a liquid state with a low temperature and a high pressure, and then is forwarded to the evaporator via the capillary tube. The refrigerant passed through the capillary tube with a small diameter is in a liquid state with a low temperature and a low pressure. The refrigerant is then evaporated through the evaporator, thereby absorbing the heat of the freezing and refrigerating compartments. Accordingly, the temperature in the freezing and refrigerating compartments is reduced.
A microprocessor evaluates temperature information for the freezing and refrigerating compartments, and then controls the opening and closing operations of the damper so that the freezing and refrigerating compartments are maintained at the respectively desired temperature.
However, the conventional refrigerating system can only store food at given pre-set temperatures.
Therefore, there is a problem in that the nutritive substance included in the food may be destroyed due to the relatively low temperature.
Furthermore, there is another problem in that the fermentation substances which require specific temperature ranges can not function well outside the specific temperature range.